4 Global Innovations You Can't Miss

MICO HEADPHONES A forehead sensor on the headphones measures the electrical activity in your prefrontal cortex.

IMAGE: Courtesy Company

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Here are four world-class innovations from the trend spotters at Springwise.com:

Headphones That Read Your Mind

Neurowear, Japan

Who needs playlists? Neuro­wear, based in Tokyo, is developing headphones that read your mind--and choose a song for you. The Mico headphones include a forehead sensor that measures electrical activity in your brain (different frequencies in the prefrontal cortex are associated with certain moods).

The information is sent to an iPhone app, which then selects a music track for you. Neurowear debuted a prototype at this year's South by Southwest.

An Armchair Rowing Machine

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Germany

Here's a recliner that doesn't let you kick back. Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, based in Munich, created the GEWOS armchair, which transforms into a rowing machine. The goal? To help the elderly and immobile stay fit in their living rooms. The armrests raise to reveal rowing handles, and the chair is also decked out with electronic sensors that monitor your pulse, blood pressure, and weight. The name GEWOS stands for Gesund Wohnen mit Stil, or "healthy living in style."

A Foldable Scooter

Antro, Hungary

There's no need to find a parking space for Moveo. The Vespa-like scooter, developed by Antro in Hungary, can be folded down and toted like a rolling suitcase. Made of a light carbon composite, Moveo weighs just 55 pounds. Antro designed the scooter for city use. A single charge of the electric motor will take the driver about 22 miles at a top speed of 28 mph.

A Suit That Blocks Cell-Phone Radiation

Smuggler, France

This may be the world's most fashionable hazmat suit. Smuggler, a French menswear company, has designed a line of business suits that protect against cell-phone radiation. The suits contain a fabric--interwoven with nickel, stainless steel, and aluminum--that blocks up to 90 percent of electromagnetic waves. From now on, Smuggler plans to include the material, which took three years to develop, in all its suits.